Antinuclear

Australian govt continues to ignore indigenous calls for safety review of uranium industry

30 years after Chernobyl, Australia still hasn’t learned to leave uranium in the ground, Guardian, 26 Apr 16 Josephine Vallentine
When they visited Australia in 1997, Chernobyl victims were left in no doubt Indigenous communities wanted uranium left safely in the ground – but the government continues to sign deals to dig it up “……In 1997, two people from the Chernobyl affected area came to Australia for a 55-day pilgrimage, visiting Indigenous communities, proposed uranium mine sites and operating uranium mines. The interaction between people who had suffered the effects of the nuclear industry and those whose lands are rich in uranium, but who don’t want it to hurt people in other places, was poignant.

It was very moving to witness the sadness felt by Indigenous Australians, when pictures drawn by children depicting scenes before and after “the event” were shown..

Our Russian friends were left in no doubt that Aboriginal communities wanted the uranium to stay safely in the ground, undisturbed. And pilgrims from various countries were left in no doubt that the poison fire emanating from Chernobyl’s stricken reactors, would continue to wreak its havoc for untold years to come.

Now, 30 years later, it is deeply disappointing to note that the foreign affairs minister has signed a deal to sell uranium to Ukraine. The Ukraine nuclear reactors are reaching the end of their designed life, adding to the already high level of risk. In the ongoing political tensions between Russia and Ukraine,  Australia has been playing favourites with uranium supplies – first banning uranium sales to Russia then quickly opening negotiations for a uranium supply deal with Ukraine.

Last month at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC, terrorism threats and nuclear weapons were the major focus, but this summit was snubbed by nuclear weapons countries Russia and Pakistan. Whether it be from reactors or bombs, or a total absence of being able to deal with contaminated waste, or the use of so-called “depleted uranium” in war zones, the nuclear industry poses an enormous risk. Rather than pausing to reflect on Australia’s role in this toxic trade we have seen deal after deal to supply uranium, often criticised by experts.

The Australian government has consistently ignored such calls for a review of the safety and compliance and costs of this sector. Instead, Australia has pushed ahead – against advice from senior Australian bureaucrats – to sign a uranium supply deal with India, a country that has a nuclear weapons program and is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Australia has also signed a deal to supply uranium to the United Arab Emirates. For an industry that is in the doldrums with its product worth less than US$30 per pound, with unsafe reactors getting old and more dangerous, with new reactors on hold due to cost blowouts and time delays, it is unwarranted that the Australian government should give it so much support.  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/26/30-years-after-chernobyl-australia-still-hasnt-learned-to-leave-uranium-in-the-ground

April 27, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized